Cathay: Ezra Pound's re-imagination of Chinese PoetryThis slim volume, born from an accidental discovery, set the tone for modern translations of Chinese poetry into EnglishBy Kerry BrownThis year marks the hundredth anniversary of the first publication of Ezra Pound's slender volume of oriental poems, Cathay. While the collection does not have the fame of his … Continue reading Cathay: Ezra Pound’s re-imagination of Chinese Poetry by Kerry Brown
Category: chinese
Zhanmusi Qiaoyisi BIG in CHINA
By what miracles of linguistic mastery and literary imagination could Chinese characters be made to capture Joyce’s mind-bending manipulations of the alphabet? By what subtleties of cross-cultural understanding could the specificities of Ireland and its mythologies be translated for a Chinese audience? -- http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/13/james-joyce-china-bloomsday-chinese-reputation...the alphabet vs. the equation....?
Finnegans Wake Takes off in China
Joyce’s ‘Finnegans Wake’ Takes Off in ChinaBy DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW...Here in China, the first four pages of Chapter 9, “Scylla and Charybdis,” are read by Dai Congrong in Shanghai (there will also be a reading in Beijing) — though the translator of Joyce’s most difficult work, “Finnegans Wake,” says her contribution was prerecorded earlier this … Continue reading Finnegans Wake Takes off in China
Ezra Pound and the tale of the tribe in 2013.
Ezra Pound and the tale of the tribe in 2013.Today, Easter Sunday 31st March 2013, I am here at home in Amsterdam, switching between facebook, blogger, youtube and Wikipedia, and my copy of Pound’s Cantos. And I cannot resist pulling out some examples of Pounds relevance, coloured by the texts analysis by Pound/Joyce scholar Dr … Continue reading Ezra Pound and the tale of the tribe in 2013.
When ‘Livvylong’ is Chinese
Finnegans Wake, a hugely complicated work by Irish author James Joyce, will get a receptionfrom Chinese readers in September.The first volume of Finnegans Wake was translated by Dai Congrong, a Chinese language andliterature professor of Fudan University, and will be published by Shanghai People's PublishingHouse."I was aware about how tough it would be from the very beginning," Dai says."Yet without Chinese translation, the book would remain a mystery for Chinese readers,especially those who love James Joyce."Dai says she spent 10 years translating the work. And this is just the first volume.At a recent seminar about the Chinese edition of Finnegans Wake, Dai shared her experience oftranslating the book with a group of scholars from the literature department of Chinese Academyof Social Sciences.In the translated work, Dai keeps about half of the author's original words, and has put downevery possible meaning of some complicated words that have rich meanings as footnotes."Many words in this book have very rich meanings, and that's why people find it hard to get itright," Dai says. "As a translator, I think I tried to not translate each word and sentence, onlybased on my own understanding. This way, we can leave more space for the readers."She says the footnotes are equally important as Joyce's original text, as they show the author'sopen-mindedness and diversity.Joyce, an Irish novelist and poet, is considered one of the most influential writers in themodernist avant-garde of the early 20th century.Finnegans Wake, which Joyce worked on for 17 years in his later years, is a work of comicfiction and significant for its experimental style.The book is also known as the most difficult work in English literature. Upon writing the book,Joyce once said that it would take people 300 years to fully understand its meaning.While a French translation of the book took 30 years and the German version took 19 years, ittook Dai just a decade to translate the first volume."In order to grasp its meaning, I had to break up each word and study it individually, as the bookis full of word combinations that Joyce created," she says. "For example, the word 'livvylong' canbe understood as 'Livvy is a long river', or as 'life long'."More than 10 scholars attended the discussion and shared their opinions on the translatededition.Liu Yiqing, an English teacher from Peking University, thinks the book should not only considerreaders who are Joyce experts."There is still something we can improve in the way the footnotes are presented," she says. "While putting every possible meaning in Chinese into the text, it will break the integrity of thestory. We should make it a story that is also interesting for college students to read andunderstand."Zhang Yu, a 26-year-old student who studied comparative literature during her postgraduatestudies, says she heard about Finnegans Wake at university, but was taken aback by theabnormal writing style and found it difficult to understand."I am very much looking forward to the translated version in Chinese, even though there may beobstacles," she says.Wang Weisong, editor-in-chief of Shanghai People's Publishing House, says readership of theChinese translation mainly focuses on Chinese scholars who study Joyce's works.But they also hope that all fans of Joyce will love the book.zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn(China Daily 09/18/2012 page19)
New Page in the book of the World
One of my fav. books.Small and handy for short trips.This book was course work for the 'Ideogramic Method" class conducted at the Maybelogic Academy. "This twentieth century not only turns a new page in the book of the world, but opens another and a startling chapter. Vistas of strange futures unfold for man, of world-embracing … Continue reading New Page in the book of the World